May | 2025 VOL 34 NO 9
IN THIS ISSUE
IS RISEN! TO KNOW REST A1-10 ETERNAL B1 HE A1-16 GETTING Easter is celebrated in POPE LEO XIV GRANT UNTO HIM Conclave unexpectedly elects a U.S. pontiff
The world mourns Pope Francis
parishes around the Diocese of Knoxville
Catholic commentary ....................... A3 Parish news ................................ B10,15 Diocesan calendar .......................... B11 Columns ......................................B12-13 Catholic schools ............................. B16 La Cosecha ............................Section C
HabemUS Papam! Cardinal Robert Prevost, the first U.S. pontiff, is now Pope Leo XIV By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
Pope Leo continued on page A12
OSV NEWS PHOTO/CLAUDIA GRECO, REUTERS
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ardinal Robert F. Prevost, the Chicagoborn prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops under Pope Francis, was elected the 267th pope on May 8 and took the name Pope Leo XIV. He is the first North American to be elected pope and, before the conclave, was the U.S. cardinal most mentioned as a potential successor of St. Peter. The white smoke poured from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel at 6:07 p.m. Rome time, and a few minutes later the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica began to ring. About 20 minutes later, the Vatican police band and two dozen members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard marched into St. Peter’s Square. They soon were joined by the marching band of the Italian Carabinieri, a branch of military police, and by units of the other branches of the Italian military. As soon as news began to spread, people from all over Rome ran to join the tens of thousands who were already in the square for the smoke
Introducing Pope Leo XIV Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who has chosen the papal name Leo XIV, appears on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on May 8, following his election during the conclave. He is the first North American pope in history.
‘A pope among the people’ Pope Francis dies and is laid to rest after 12-year papacy
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ope Francis was “a pope among the people, with an open heart toward everyone,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, as he presided over the funeral of the Holy Father, who died on April 21 at the age of 88. And the people—an estimated 250,000 of them—were present as 14 pallbearers carried Pope Francis’ casket into St. Peter’s Square and set it on a carpet in front of the altar for the April 26 funeral Mass. His burial was held later the same day in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major after being driven in a motorcade through the center of the city where he served as bishop from the day of his election to the papacy on March 13, 2013. Security around the Vatican was tight, not only because of the number of mourners expected but especially because of the presence of kings, queens, presidents—including U.S. President Donald J. Trump— and prime ministers from more than 80 countries, and official representatives from scores of other nations. Also present were the
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/ GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE, REUTERS
Catholic News Service
Let perpetual light shine upon him Pope Francis greets the crowd during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 27, 2022. The Holy Father died on April 21, Easter Monday, at age 88. He passed away in his Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta, and physicians said he died of a stroke followed by irreversible cardiac arrest. His funeral Mass was held on Saturday, April 26, in St. Peter's Square and was attended by an estimated 250,000 people, with another 140,000 people lining the streets of Rome to view the funeral procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where the pope was buried. St. Mary Major is one of four major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. residents of a Vatican palace Pope Francis had turned into a shelter for the homeless and the 12 Syrian refugees he brought to Rome with him from a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos in 2016. The Gospel reading at the funeral was John 21:15-19,
where the Risen Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” And when Peter says yes, Jesus tells him, “Feed my sheep.” “Despite his frailty and suffering toward the end, Pope Francis chose to follow this path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly
life,” Cardinal Re said in his homily. “He followed in the footsteps of his Lord, the Good Shepherd, who loved His sheep to the point of giving His life for them.” The 91-year-old cardinal told the crowd the image of Pope Francis that “will remain etched in our memory”
was his appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica the day before he died to give his Easter blessing urbi et orbi (to the city and the world) and then to ride in the popemobile among the people who were celebrating Christ’s victory over death. “The outpouring of affection that we have witnessed in recent days following his passing from this earth into eternity tells us how much the profound pontificate of Pope Francis touched minds and hearts,” Cardinal Re said. The Vatican estimated that 250,000 people—many of whom waited in line for three or four hours—filed past the late pope’s body in St. Peter’s Basilica April 23-25. Within the Church, the cardinal said, “the guiding thread” of Pope Francis’ ministry was his “conviction that the Church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open.” For Pope Francis, he said, the Church was a “field hospital,” one “capable of bending down to every person, regardless of their beliefs or condition, and healing their wounds.” With President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Olga Lyubimova, Russian minister Francis continued on page A5